Perspectives on Health Equity & Social Determinants of Health

| A National Academy of Medicine Special Publication

Health disparities and health inequities have long been experienced between and among people and communities. Recognition and understanding of how social factors impact health outcomes and disparities is crucial to reversing the debilitating and lethal consequences of inequities.

This NAM Special Publication, an edited volume of discussion papers, provides author’s recommendations to advance the agenda to promote health equity for all. Organized by research approaches and policy implications, systems that perpetuate or ameliorate health disparities, and specific examples of ways in which health disparities manifest in communities of color, this special publication provides a stark look at how health and well-being are nurtured, protected, and preserved where people live, learn, work, and play. All of our nation’s institutions have important roles to play even if they do not think of their purpose as fundamentally linked to health and well-being.

The rich discussions found throughout Perspectives on Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health make way for the translation of policies and actions to improve health and health equity for all citizens of our society. The major health problems of our time cannot be solved by health care alone. They cannot be solved by public health alone. Collective action is needed, and it is needed now.